Selecting and actuating means for arcuate type carriers



XE 2 1"* K. WESTHNGER Erm. 832,283

SELECTING AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR RCUATE TYPE CARRIERS Filed may 23, 1955 4 sheets-sheet 1 PMH 29 1958 K. WESTINGER ET All. 2,832,283

SELECTING AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR ARCUATE TYPE CARRIERS Filed. May 23, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed May .23 1955 1M. WESTNGER ETAP. SELECTING AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR ARCUATE TYPE CARRIERS plri 29, 1958 K, WESTlNGER ETAL 2,322,253

SELECTING AND CTUATING MEANS FOR ARCUATE TYPE CARRIERS Filed May 23, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 united safes Patent o SELECTING` AND CTUATING MEANS FOR v ARCUATE TYPE CARRIERS Application May 23, 1955, Serial No. 510,364

. section i, Public Law 619, August 1s, 1954 Patent expires November 10, 1969 Claims. (Cl. 101-93) f The present invention relates to office machines such as` accounting and calculating machines, and particularly -key adding machines which are designed to operate at high speeds. t mInlconventional machinestof this type a considerable amount of structure is required to effect the typing operations which undesirably detract from the speed of opera tion. as well as the eiciency of the typing action.

Oneof the objects of the present invention is to provide a typing apparatus made up. of a relatively simple, small structure` which is capable of operating swiftlyto produce a very superior typing operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism of the above type which guarantees that a given typing character will move in a direction substan-` tially radial to the platen duringthe typing operation and which further guarantees that ati the end of the typing operation a given character is in a plane tangential to the platen. t `r` Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to direct the type toward the platen with a substantially constant force during the typing operation.

With the above objects in view, the present invention mainly consists of a typing apparatus of `an otiice machine or the like, this apparatus including an arcuate typecarrying member forming a sector of aiirst circle and formed with an elongated arcuate slot extending along a second circle concentric with the first circle. An arm extends substantially radially fromthe type-carrying member and a pivot pin is fixed to and extends laterally from this arm. A hammer means extendsinto the slot Aforturging the typecarrying member toward a platen, and a guide means engages the above pivot pin for guiding the latter fortranslation movement during the typing operation.

`The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction andits method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best` understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional side elevational view of a structure` constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown in its rest position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View of the structure of Fig. l showing the position which the parts take at the end of the typing operation;

Fig. 3 shows a slightly different embodiment of the structure of Fig. l in the rest position of the parts; and

Fig. 4 shows the structure of Fig. 3 at the end ofthe typing operation.

` Referring now to the drawings and to Fig. 1 in particular, the structure of the invention in the illustrated example is shown as part of a 10-key adding machine. Such an adding machine is provided in a known manner with a plurality of selecting bars 1 turnable on a fixed shaft 2, springs 3 being'attached to the base of the machine and to the bars 1, respectively, to urge the latter in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 2, as Viewed in Fig. l, to a rest position. As is well known, the carriage of the machine has structure for acting on the bars 1 to carry out the operation of the machine aswell as to actuate the typing apparatus thereof.

Each bar 1 is connected in a known way to a counter or totalizer bar 4 fragmentarily illustrated in Fig.` 1l Also, each bar 1 is pivotally connected to the bottom end of a push rod 5 `whose top end is pivotally connected to an arcuate type-carrying member 6, this member 6 extending along an arc of a circle.` At its bottomend the typecarrying member 6 is fixed to one end of anarm 7 which extends radially from the member 6 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1. A pivot pin 8 turnably supports the arm 7 and extends laterally therefrom, as indicated in Fig. 1. A

In the embodiment of Figs. l and 2, the pivot pin 8 is guided for turning and translational `movement bya guide means in the form ofa guiding comb 10 of substantially Ushaped crosssection having a pairof spacedwalls formed with a pair of aligned cutouts into which each arm 7 extends, as indicated in Fig. 1. Thus, the pin S is shiftable along the space 9 within the guiding comb 10 and` is also capable of providing a turning axis for the arm 7.

A further guiding comb member 11 `is provided withfcnt-4k dicated in Fig. 1. p

Each type-carrying `member 6 is formed with an arcuate outs into which the members 6 respectively extend, as in` slot 12 which extends along a circle `concentric with that along which the sector 6 extends, and a free end portion 13 of a hammer means for urging member 6 toward the platen 36 extends into the slot 12. This portion 13 of the hammer means is in the form of a laterallt bent lug of an arm 15a of a three-armed lever 15 which is turnable on the stationarytshaft 14. The arm 15b of lever 15 is connected to one end of along and strong coil spring 16,1`tl1e other end of which is xed to the base of the machine in the mannerindicated in Fig. l.

In the position of the parts shown in Fig. l, the coil spring 16 urges the lever 15 is aclockwise direction about the shaft 14, but such turning movement is prevented by" engagement ofthe intermediate arm 15C of lever 15 with a lug 17 formed on an arm 18 of a bell-crank 20 turnable on `a stationary shaft 19. The other arm 20a of a bellcrank 20 terminates in a laterally extending lug 21 for` a purpose described below.

The two-armed lever 23 is `located behind the bellcrank 20, as viewed in Fig. 1,` and `is also `turnable on the Shaft 19, this lever Z3 having an upper arm 22 terminating in a laterally extending lug which bears` against the` arm 20a of lever 20, as indicated in Fig. 1. The. lower a-rm of lever 23 carries a pin 24 which extends into a A' lever 27.'is turnable on the pivot pin 24 and is con- Y nected to one end of a spring 28 whose opopsite end isk connected to the lever 20 so that in the position of the parts shown in Fig. l the spring 28 urges the lever 27 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 24, as viewed in Fig. l. In the rest position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, lever 27 is prevented from turning under the influence of spring 28 by a `stop member 29 iixed to the push rod 5 and engaging the lever 27, as indicated in Fig. l. When the lever 27 is free to turn, a projection 27a thereof engages the lug 21 of the lever 20.

The main operating shaft 30 of the machine is turn able in a known manner through a predetermined angle in a counterclockwise direction during the forward stroke of the machine, and in a clockwise direction during the return stroke of the machine, as viewed in Fig. l. A plate 31 is fixed to the shaft 30 for turning movement therewith, and a link 32 is pivotally connected at one end to the plate 31 and at its opposite end to an arm of two-armed lever 33 turnable on the shaft 14. The other arm of the lever 33 carries a guiding comb 34 formed with cutouts into which arms 15b and 15C of lever 15 extend, as indicated in Fig. l. In the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, it will be noted that the arm 15b engages the guiding comb 34 and is held against the same by the spring 16. Furthermore, in the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the pivot 24 of the toggle is located slightly to the left of a straight line extending through the axes of shafts 19 and 25. The link 32 xedly carries a stop member 35 adapted to engage the arm 26b of lever 26, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will be noted also that the platen 36 of the machine is located opposite the type-carrying member 6.

The structure shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is identical with that of Figs. l and 2, except that instead of being guided by a guide 10 pivot pins 8 are respectively carried by the levers 38 which are turnable on a stationary shaft 37. In both embodiments of the invention, the type-carrying member 6 is guided in such a way that any of the type characters move radially toward the platen 36 this result being effected in Figs. 3 and 4 by the arms 7 and levers 38 whose lengths are carefully chosen for this purpose. The path of travel of any given type character is indicated by the arrow 39 in Fig. 3.

In the rest position of the parts shown in Figs. l and 2, the selecting bar 1 is out of engagement with a setting member which actuates the same, and the push rod and type-carrying member 6 are in their lowermost positions. The stop 29 on push rod 5 engages lever 27 to prevent the latter from being turned by the spring 28, and the spring 28 also maintains the projection 17 of lever 20 in engagement with the intermediate arm 15C of lever 15 to lock the lever 15 in the illustrated position.

When the machine is started the bar 1 is released to the inuence of spring 3 which turns the bar 1 in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 2 so as to raise the push rod 5 to lift the type-carrying member 6, together with the counter or totalizing rod 4, into a position corresponding to that of the selected key. (See Fig. 3 for example.) The upward movement of the push rod '5 raises the stop 29 so that lever 27 may now turn under the inlluence of spring 28 in a clockwise direction about pin 24, so that the projection 27a of lever 27 extends across the lug 21 of arm 20a of lever 20, the lever 27 engaging this lug. The machine shaft 30 turns in a'counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, to raise the link 32 to the position indicated in Fig. 2, and thus the stop member 35 engages arm 26b of lever 26 tc turn the later in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. l and Fig. 2, from the position of Fig. l to that of Fig. 2, and in this latter position the axis of pin 24 intersects a straight line drawn through the axes of shafts 19 and 25. As a result `of the movement of the toggle y from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2, the lever20 turns in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. l and 2, so that the projection 17 of arm 18 of lever 20 releases the arm 15C. It will be noted that just before such release of the arm 15C, the turning of the plate 31 has caused elements 32 and 33 to move the guiding comb 34 from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2. Thus, as soon as the arm 15cis thus released, the spring 16 acts on the lever 15 to swing the latter sharply in a clockwise direction about the shaft 14, as viewed in Figs. l and 2, and as a consequence the lug 13 of the hammer means strikes against the right edge of slot 12, as viewed in Figs. l and 2, with a great force in the manner of a. hammer so that the selected character of member 6 is pressed with great force onto the platen 36. In the embodiment of Figs. l and 2, the member 6 is guided with its axis of rotation formed by pin A8 along the slot 9 of the guiding comb 10, while with the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 the lever 38 guides the movement of the type-carrying member 6. In both the disclosed embodiments of the invention, the selected type character will move toward the platen along a path extending radially with respect to the platen and, as indicated in Fig. 2, at the end of the typing operation the selected character will be located in a plane tangential to the platen and will extend across a straight line normal to and intersecting the axes of the platen and pivot pin 8. Fur thermore, it will be noted that at the end of the printing operation the lug 13 forming the portion of the hammer means which extends into the slot 12 is. located just beneath this straight line, which is of particular advantage since it has been found that in such an operation particularly neat typing is provided.

When the shaft 30 turns in clockwise direction from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. l to return the parts to their rest position, the lever 33 is turned in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 14, so that the comb guide 34 engages the arm 15b to turn the lever 15 in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 14 back to the position of Fig. l. The type-carrying member 6 moves, together with the lever 15, back to its rest position. In this rest position of the parts the spring 16 of the hammer means is under only a slightly greater tension than at the end of the typing operation illustrated in Fig. 2. This result is obtained by making the spring 16 so long that it changes inlength only a small fraction of its total length during the operation of the machine. As a result, the force exerted by the spring 16 on the type-carrying member 6 remains substantially constant during the entire typing operation and the type-carrying membery 6 is thus subjected to a constant acceleration and increase in speed until a given type character strikes the platen 36.

The retraction of the selecting bar 1 causes the push.

rod 5 to be moved downwardly so as to cause the stop 29 to engage the lever 27 again and turn it back in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 24. As a result, the projection 27a of lever 27 releases the lug 21 of lever 20 so that the latter may turn in a clockwise direction about pin 19 under the inuence of spring 28 back to the position of Fig. l, where the projection 17 engages arm 15C to lock the lever 15 in the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The release of lever 20 by the lever 27 in addition causes the lever 20 through its engagement with lever 23 to return the toggle to the position shown in Fig. 1. Thus7 all the parts are again returned to the rest position of Fig. 1.

The above described typing mechanism permits all the parts thereof to be of a relatively small size and small` It will be understood that eachV of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also nd a useful application in other types of typing apparatus differing from the types described above. 1 While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodiedin typing apparatus of ofiice machines and the like,-it is not intended to be limited to the details (shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a typing apparatus of an office machine, or the like, in combination, an arcuate type-carrying member forming a section of a ring extending along a first circle and formed with an elongated arcuate slot extending along a second circle concentric with said first circle; an arm extending substantially radially from said member; a pivot pin fixed to and extending laterally from said arm; hammer means comprising a pivotally mounted lever having on one arm a lug portion riding in said slot and spring means acting on said lever for urging said lug portion and member toward a platen and cooperating with said member only at said slot thereof,v and releasable latch means preventing movement of said lever by said spring means until said latch means is released; and guide means engaging said pivot pin for guiding the latter for translational movement during a typing operation and for supporting said member for oscillation to carry successive type characters thereon past the platen until a selected type character is located opposite the platen, said latch means being selectively released to release the hammer means to the force of said spring means thereof for impelling said member toward the platen when a selected type character is opposite the platen.

2. In a typing apparatus of an office machine, or the like, in combination, an arcuate type-carrying member forming a section of a ring extending along a first circle and formed with an elongated arcuate slot extending along a second circle concentric with said first circle; an arm extending substantially radially from a lower end of said member; a platen located opposite said member; a pivot pin fixed to and extending laterally from said arm; hammer means comprising a pivotally mounted lever having a lug portion on one arm riding in said slot and spring means acting on said lever for urging said lug portion and member toward said platen and cooperating with said member only at said slot thereof and releasable latch means preventing movement of said lever by said spring means until said latch means is released; and guide means' engaging said pivot pin for guiding the latter for translational movement during a typing operation, for guiding a type character carried by said member along a path substantially radial to said platen during the typing operation and for locating said character in a plane tangential to said platen at the end of the typing operation, said guide means also supporting said member for oscillation to carry successivev type characters thereon past said platen until a selected type character is located opposite said platen, said latch means being selectively released to release the hammer means to said spring means thereof for impelling said member toward said platen when a selected type character is opposite said platen.

3. In a typing apparatus of an otiice machine, or the like, in combination, an arcuate type-carryingmember forming a section of a ring extending along a first circle i 'a pivot pin fixed to and extending laterally from said arm; hammer means extending into said slot for urging said member toward said platen and cooperating with said member only at said slot thereof; and guide means engaging said pivot pin for guiding the latter for translational movement during a typing operation, for guiding a type character carried by said member along a path substantially radial to said platen during the typing operation and for locating said character in a plane tangential to said platen at the end of the typing operation, said guide means including a guiding comb of substantially U-shaped cross section having a pair of spaced Walls between which said pivot pin is located, said walls respectively being formed with elongated aligned cutouts into which said arm extends.

4. In a typing apparatus of an office machine, or the like, in combination, an arcuate type-carrying member forming a section of a ring extending along a first circle and formed with an elongated arcuate slot extending along a second circle concentric with said first circle; an arm extending substantially radially from said member; a pivot pin fixed to and extending laterally from said arm; hammer means comprising a pivotally mounted lever having a lug portion on one arm riding in said slot and spring means acting on said lever for urging said lug portion and member toward a platen and cooperating with said member only at said slot thereof, and releasable latch means preventing movement of said lever by said spring means until said latch means is released; and guide means engaging said pivot pin for guiding the latter for translational movement during a typing operation and for supporting said member for oscillation to carry successive type characters thereon past the platen until a selected type character is located opposite the platen, said latch means being selectively released to release the hammer means to said spring means thereof for impelling said member toward the platen when a selected type character is opposite the platen, said spring means including an elongated coil spring having a length sufiiciently great to provide said spring during a typing operation with a change in length which is only a small fraction ot' the total length of said spring, whereby said spring means provides a substantially constant force during the typing operation.

5. In a typing apparatus of an ofiice machine, or the like, in combination, a platen; an arcuate type carrying member forming a section of a ring extending along a rst circle and located in a plane normal to the axis of said platen, said member being formed with an arcuate slot located along a second circle concentric with said first circle; an arm located in said plane, fixed at one end to the lower end of said member, and extending radially from the latter; a pivot pin carried by said arm at an end portion thereof distant from said member; hammer means comprising a pivotally mounted lever having a lug portion riding in said slot and spring means acting on said lever for urging said lug portion and member toward said platen and cooperating with said member only at said slot thereof, and releasable latch means preventing movement of said lever by said spring means until said latch means is released; and guide means engaging said pivot pin for guiding the latter for translational movement during a typing operation, for locating a type character carried by said member in a plane tangential to said platen at the end of the typing operation, for guiding said character along a path substantially radial to said platen dur-ing the typing operation, and for locating said character at the end of the typing operation in a position extending across a straight line normal to the axes of said platen and pivot pin, said guide ymeans supporting .said member for oscillation to carry successive type characters thereon past said platen until a selected type character is located opposite said platen,` said latch means being selectively released to release the hammer means to said spring means thereof for impelling said member toward said platen when a selected type character is opposite said platen.

References Cited in the le of thispatent UNITED `STATES PATEN'ISv Quentell Sept. 18,1917 Quentell Sept. 16,1924 Ball `Dec. 5,. ,1,933 `Garbell Nov. 23, 19.37 Garbell July 11, 1939 

